When Great News happens !

I was expecting last week to be excruciating. The weeks leading up to Christmas were painful. I thought last year was hard, we had just submitted our application to the agency right before Thanksgiving and had been approved to adopt him a little before Christmas. Last year we felt like we were missing somebody, Last year we knew there was an extra plate we weren't making, another stocking we weren't filling, another child missing out on the family traditions we do each year. Last year I was so so sure that our family would be different. Our family would be one of the fast ones, the ones our agency said not to base your timeline on. I just knew he would be home for Christmas. But I was wrong. This year I knew he wouldn't be here for Christmas.  This year was different though, we knew him. We spent a week with him. We have held him and snuggled him. He was missing. And I literally felt like my heart was in two places, breaking from the pain of not having all of my little ones with us. I thought for sure Christmas Day would be unbearable.

But Then !

On Dec. 22 we received a video update of Owen. It was the sweetest gift we could have asked for, really. Or so we thought. Because on Dec.23 we received our article 16! This is a HUGE step in the process. It basically means both governments agree that we can adopt OWEN. We got the OK from our government that we could adopt "a child", we got the okay from his government that we could adopt "a child" but now we have the okay to adopt not just "a child" but OUR CHILD. I am so so so happy ! We quickly filled out our portion and sent it to our agency. But in true adoption fashion, every single time we have needed something to hurry along or get seen there's a delay or holiday. Hello, Christmas. LOL.

Other families have traveled anywhere from 7 weeks to 5 months after receiving their article 16. We know based on our in country teams estimate that we should travel around March. So we have about 10-12 weeks to come up with the remaining adoption fees. We have a few pending donations that haven't been added to our FSP yet so there is a small update but I don't know the specifics yet.

Until those are accounted for I am just going to say this is where we are:
International fee $2000
Hosting fee (apartment, transportation,translator) $4600
Post placement fees $1400
Airfare/ In Country Expenses $4500 (We really hope this is a HIGH estimate!)

We are so so so close to bringing home the newest little McBride! I can hardly wait. I know we still have a ton of money to raise but right now I am soaking in the excitement of the finish line ! That sweet smart little guy we met in November gets to finally come home in 2016! The little 3 year old that we saw on Reece's Rainbow in 2014, finally gets to have his very own family in 2016 ! The sweet little guy who has spent 4 years waiting for a mom and dad and believing with everything in him that they weren't coming , finally gets his very own right before his 5th birthday ! And what a celebration that will be !

So maybe we did miss this Christmas with him, but it will certainly be the last one without him!

We ask that you please keep us in your thoughts and prayers in the next several weeks. We have one final adoption grant application that we are waiting to hear from. We need this grant. I know every person that applies needs it too. But I really really hope we are chosen for it. We have tried so many fundraisers, we have worked over time, side jobs and random things (remember my plasma post? ) We have applied to so many grant organizations. We just need help getting to the finish line. He isn't a cute little squishy baby, He isn't aging out, he isn't in a horrible orphanage being abused, neglected or starved, but he is still worthy of having a family. He deserves it just as much as every other child waiting for a family. So, please help us get there. Pray for our family. Share our posts. Ask your friends if they want to buy a shirt or a puzzle piece or a number on our VISA gift card board.

Every single thing that you do is a blessing to us. Every single prayer is heard and God is faithful. He will get us through this journey and he will provide the funds we need to bring this sweet amazing little boy home.

I saw this verse the other day and it really resonated with me. The power in prayer is a beautiful thing. I know that if we could have everyone flood heavens gate with prayers for our family God will provide the funds to bring our sweet guy home.

Matthew 7:7-8 (NIV) 

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

 Thank you so very much.

Here is a photo of Ethan & Ashlyn on Christmas ! And here is our "Christmas photo" we took at my husbands job a few weeks ago ! They had a "family day" with crafts and Elsa and games. The kids really enjoyed seeing where daddy spends all his time ;)

 

Are you Blessed and Thankful ?

We have just launched a new shirt campaign ! I am so in love with the design and I hope you will enjoy them too ! They will be available in red, blue and grey and each color is available in Tshirts, Long sleeve shirts and Hoodies.

Prices are :
Short Sleeve $25
Long Sleeve $30
Hoodies $40

Sizes XXL and XXXL are available for $2 more

Each price includes shipping.

If you would like to order one please pay the amount to our FSP  (located on the side bar) and send me a copy of the receipt with your choice of size color, shirt/hoodie.

This Campaign will run until DEC 31 and take about 7-9 days to arrive.

Even if you can not order one , would you mind sharing this post so others can see it ?

We have just until March 2016 to raise about $12,500 and this shirt campaign could knock out a portion of that for us :)

Remaining Adoption Fees:

 Final international fee: ($2,000) Hosting-will include apartment, translator and transportation: ($4600) Post placement fees: ($1400) Visa for Owen to come home: ($325) Estimated expenses for airfare and in country expenses:  about $4500

We also have our Visa Gift Card Give away going on. Could we get the first 25 numbers gone by the end of the year? I think we could, with your help ! Please share with your friends :) Numbers 1-50 will be drawn for a $75 gift card and 51-100 will be drawn for a $125 Gift card. So no matter who wins, you automatically get back more than you invested. If you would like to help other children and their grants, you could join with someone else and pick a number. If that number is drawn the Gift Card amount would be donated to the family or child of your choice !

 Also, we still have so many puzzle Pieces ! We have 983 pieces left. For a minimum of $5 donation to our FSP your name or name of your choosing will be put on the back of this puzzle which will hang in Owens room.   Owen is in an orphanage nestled in the foot hills of Mount Ararat. This is the place where the Bible says the Ark rested on after the flood, which is why we want the puzzle to be Noahs Ark!

We have 983 pieces left to the puzzle!  If we can get the remaining puzzle pieces sponsored for at least $5 each we will be $4915 closer to our goal!


We need $12500 to be fully funded. This puzzle will give us $4915 and the visa gift card board will give us $4995 for a total of $9,910. We would be so close to fully funded with just these two fundraisers!

Pushing to the finish line !

So remember last week when I shared that we are around $12,500 from being fully funded ? Well this week I would like to share our fundraisers and where we are in the process.

Once we got home Little Mans government began working on our paper work, you know just about a million documents of our life :) Eventually our file will make its way to the hands of the Prime Minister who will review it and give us his approval. We wont exactly know when that happens, but when it does it means we are one HUGE step closer ! Then we will receive our Article 16 which is for our government, basically saying that they both agree we can adopt Owen.

Then a few short weeks later we will be invited to bring Owen home ! Our best guess right now because of government shut downs for the holidays is that we will be invited to bring him home around March 2016.

We have this puzzle fundraiser : For a donation of at least $5 I will put your name, or the name of your choice on the back of a puzzle piece. Once you have sponsored a piece and the whole thing is put together it will hang in our sweet boys room with your name on the back so that he can see everyone that helped bring him home ! Owen is in an orphanage nestled in the foot hills of Mount Ararat. This is the place where the Bible says the Ark rested on after the flood, which is why we want the puzzle to be Noahs Ark!

We have 983 pieces left to the puzzle!  If we can get the remaining puzzle pieces sponsored for at least $5 each we will be $4915 closer to our goal!

We also have our Visa Give away board. The way this one works is you pick a number without a start on it between 1-100. The number you choose correlates into the donation made to our FSP. Every number 1-100 gets us this much closer to Owen. The drawing for the gift card will be given when all numbers are sold OR at the end of the adoption- whichever comes first.

If you would like to sponsor a piece or buy a number please donate the amount to our FSP and send a copy of the receipt to my email : ashtonymcbride@yahoo.com This way I know who has donated.



 We need $12500 to be fully funded. This puzzle will give us $4915 and the visa gift card board will give us $4995 for a total of $9,910. We would be so close to fully funded with just these two fundraisers!














We also still have the blankets, and ornaments and paintings we can do.

Are you still shopping for Christmas ?

Christmas is just around the corner ! I am so sad that this is another Christmas Owen will have without a family, but we are so close to picking him up forever !

A friend of mine is in Owens Country picking up her little girl, and has decided to help us with our fundraising efforts ! She has an amazon link that she is allowing us to use. This link will give us a portion of the sales to help bring Owen home. This is the link :Amazon Link

You can also see it on the sidebar, near our FSP link. It is completely free to use ! So while you are doing some last minute Christmas shopping, please consider using this link to help us at the same time :)

Thank you friends !!!

Soon Little Man, Mommy will be back soon

 I am so excited to be sharing our final day with you ! It has been exactly one month since we last visited Owen. I can not believe it has gone by so fast ! If it keeps up at this rate we should be back there in no time at all ;)

Best french toast, ever !

This morning was our final day in country. The next morning we would leave our apartment really early in the morning. So we got up and got ready. We had brunch with our attorney and our translator. Before we left our agency gave us a "travel guide" and in this travel guide strongly suggested that we try the french toast. I had been looking forward to it all week ! But as we were sitting there I noticed they had waffles on the menu. I seriously love me some IHOP waffles and made a quick decision to get that instead. My husband, attorney and translator all got the french toast. Have you ever had a moment where you are the odd man out and instantly regret your choice? That was me. And being the awesome wife I am made my husband share with me. Im just going to say this right now... we will be going back there on trip two. And I will be ordering myself the french toast...or maybe two ya know to make up for lost time ;) Our attorney let us know that in his opinion he feels like it would be around March that we would be invited back for our pick up trip.

We left our brunch and went over to the Ministry of Justice. This was so that we could officially register with Owen. This means that no one else can look at his file or adopt him before we come back- internationally or domestically. This does not however include his biological parents. They can come back at any time up until the court decree is in our hands and take him home. This is extremely unlikely given that he is almost 5 and has lived his entire life in the orphanage, but it is possible. This is why our agency requests that adoptive parents, even ones with their child on hold, not post the child's photo on any social media. It really is to protect the child and the parents. So while I know that everyone would like to see his face, we are respecting everyone involved and not posting him. He is super cute though ! ;)

The Big one is with Owen <3

Our translator dropped us off at the orphanage and we were able to spend about an hour alone with him. It was during a shift change at the orphanage so we said goodbye to the day caregivers and told them we would be back next year. We sat and talked with Owen and gave him his bear. His face lit up like a Christmas tree when we handed it to him ! He spent a good 10 minutes just hugging it. We let him know he could hold it anytime he missed us and that it would remind him that we would be coming back. He didn't understand why he wasn't leaving with us but all we could say was that it wasn't time yet. They celebrate Christmas in January over there so we told him that after Christmas we would be coming back. It was the best way we knew how to describe the wait time.

He was so snugly ! He kept wanting to hug and kiss us and be near us. We also brought some chocolate and cookies for him and his friends to enjoy. And boy did they ever. Next time we will bring a little more ! ha ha !

I'm starting to realize that once we go home, my heart will literally be on two separate ends of the earth. We are 6,612 apart. It is going to be so hard to do life, and not have him home with us. Even though we have been in the process for over a year, and we have loved him from the beginning that love gets so much deeper after we've just spent a week with him every single day.

While I have had a lot of emotions over this week. Fear. Sadness. Happiness. Joy. Excitement. I cant help but feel an overwhelming amount of fear right now. I am scared. We have just 4 months to come up with the remaining amount of money. Because at the end of the day even if they were to tell us two weeks from now that we could come back and take him home, we dont have the money yet. Adoption is a lot of things, and one of those things is expensive. We have just a few fees left, but they are pretty big fees. I am worried that we will not come up with the money in time. I do not want him to wait a minute longer than he needs to. It would not be fair. We have applied for a few grants, we have some fundraisers lined up, and Tony is planning to work as much over time as he can. I also have just started a part time job helping a friend during the week. I plan to look into a few more opportunities to earn the money and I just hope that all of these little things will add up and we will not have any financial delays. I am trying to keep faith that everything will work out when it needs to. But I am a worrier by nature, its just the way I am.

I am so excited to go home to my babies ! I have missed them so much over this week !

 

My Sweet Ethan ! He was so excited to have us back home ! 

 Little miss Ashlyn couldn't wait for daddy to hold her ! ;)

Remaining Adoption Fees:

 Final international fee: ($2,000) Hosting-will include apartment, translator and transportation: ($4600) Post placement fees: ($1400) Visa for Owen to come home: ($325)--almost covered-- Estimated expenses for airfare and in country expenses:  about $4500

almost the last day

We are almost at the end of our week here. I am amazed at how quickly it flew by ! We went to the orphanage this morning around 10 and he was in the playroom with all of his little friends. He waved at us when he saw us walk in. I went to pick him up and we went to the living area where the couches are. We were sitting with him and talking about life at home and what our house is like when one of the caregivers walked in. She had been gone all week so this was the first time we were meeting her. She sat down and started talking with us about Owen and telling us about his medical history. She showed us his entire medical book and went over the care he is receiving there. I am so impressed with his mobility, given the lack of therapy he has. We were under the impression that he was getting therapy about 3 times a week. But what actually happens, is a therapist comes 3  times a week but with over 20 kids Owen is lucky to receive therapy once a month !

We also learned that his birth name was given to him by his birth mother. In his orphanage they tend to change the names of the children when they come in. So many of his friends have different names than their parents gave them. Sometimes children come with no name at all, but if they do come with a name and the orphanage doesnt like it they will change it. I loved his name before, and we plan to keep it, but now that I know his mother chose it for him I am even more in love with it.

Aftr meeting with the caregiver we went to play in the play room until it was lunch time. Then we left and went to the apartment until it was time to go back.

As we walked in the children were getting weighed and measured. Little Dude weighs about 28lbs and is almost 3ft tall ! He is just a few weeks younger than Ethan. Ethan is 45lb and almost 4ft tall. After that was over we decided to call Ethan and Ashlyn and see how they were doing. He really loves talking to them on the phone and says he wants to meet them. He keeps asking when they will come.
The rest of the visit we didnt really do much other than play and have fun with him.

So more to come....:)

Life begins where your comfort zone ends.

A few years ago I felt like God was placing adoption on my heart, but I wasn't sure why. I was young. I had kids, I could have more if I wanted. But that feeling never went away, so we started discussing the possibility of adoption. I will be the first to admit Im not a super awesome Christian. I have made mistakes. I have sinned. I have done things I am not proud of. I haven't always walked in my faith.  But my relationship with Him has grown in the last several years.

When we first decided that we would grow our family through adoption we didn't exactly know where to start. I had a friend who had adopted from the U.S foster care system, and honestly that process appealed to me. If I am being honest the fact that it is nearly free to adopt a child from the system was the most appealing part. When we first mentioned that we were interested in adding to our family, by adopting a child, most people were not supportive. They didn't understand why we wouldn't just conceive another child. But we knew that there were children out there that didn't have a family and instead of trying to conceive another child we could adopt one of those children and give them a family.

And we felt strongly that this was what was placed on our hearts. So I called every foster care agency in our area, including the Department of Social Services. Half of them never returned my call. Two of them refused to work with us because our children were so young. And the Department of Social services said they would love to work with us, but couldn't fit us into their next class. Tony works evenings, and has for several years. Working evenings at his job, gives him a pay increase which is nice. It allows us to live more comfortably, and it works for our family. At this time though, he was training for a new position, so he was working days and off in the early evenings. This was the only time we could take the class, together. I tried to explain this to the social worker, but she refused.
 

I spent the next several months contemplating our family. I felt like we were missing something, someone. I thought God had placed a desire to adopt, but maybe I was wrong. During those months I was faced with several people who were adopting internationally. And while I had not ever truly considered adopting internationally I was interested in it. As a young child I would look up children and ask my mom to adopt them.... but that's about where my interest started and ended.


A few weeks had gone by and I had this nagging feeling to call a few agencies. I had no idea who to call or where to begin. We had no idea which agency we would use, if any. We had no idea which country we would go with, if any. Or which special needs we would be open to, if any.  I literally just googled International Adoption Agencies and started calling them one by one. A few of them completely turned us away because of our ages, family size etc. A few of them were really awesome to talk to and said that we were limited to only a few countries because of our ages, family size etc. Almost all of them said we were a good fit for the Bulgaria program and that it was a great program to work with. So this is it, we just needed to figure out which agency we liked best.

We chose our agency and filled out the application. We were with them for a few months when I stumbled upon a website ReecesRainbow.org. My life changed. My heart changed. Everything changed. So Tony and I started talking about special needs parenting and what we were and were not comfortable with. While I wont share everything, Spina Bifida actually happened to be on the No list. But we continued looking at the children listed. I would email our agency to request the file of a few children, but none of them felt right.

But, God. He knows our story, and he knows where we should be. Then Boone happened. Boone is a little boy in Bulgaria who has Spina Bifida. He was adorable. My agency had his file and it that file were some videos. I watched this little boy every single day, for weeks. We weren't ready to commit yet, but I couldn't stop watching his videos. Eventually that little boy found a family.  I was overjoyed that he had a family coming for him. I knew that if he were the little boy meant for our family that it would have happened, so I wasn't super upset.  God used this little boy to soften our hearts to Spina Bifida. Because of this little boy I knew we would add a little boy with Spina Bifida to our family.

A few weeks later, I saw Blake. When I saw his profile, my heart stopped. This was our son. This was the little boy we were supposed to add to our family. Having no idea what the codes on the profile meant I quickly emailed our agency for his file only to find out that he was not in Bulgaria. Heartbreak. It seemed kind of like a cruel joke that I could feel so strongly in my heart that this was the little boy for our family but he wasnt in the country we were adopting from, thus not with our agency. Well If I cant be this little boys mommy, somebody has to be. And in that moment I decided to pray for this little boy. That his mommy would see him, and know in her heart that he was hers. We prayed for "Blake", but continued with our agency.

A few months went by and someone posted his photo in a Facebook group that advocates for children.  Her message was simple "Someone see him." Again, my heart stopped. There was my son, and someone else was praying for his family too ! After a little motivation I decided to call the agency with his file. Now I will be the first to tell you that change scares me. I was so out of my comfort zone with an international adoption already, switching agencies was terrifying. But as they say : Life begins where your comfort zone ends. I was mostly calling because I assumed they would tell me no, and I could shake that little nudging feeling off.

But they didn't. We qualified for their agency, and his country program. Relief. And Terror. Knowing this meant we would have to switch agencies. We would lose the money we had already spent. We would lose what little bit of comfort we were feeling, with our agency and our program. So we prayed, hard. While we were praying, and contemplating the switch I was connected with a woman who was in "Blake's" country finalizing her adoption. She shared with me that she had met him and that he was asking her where his mama and papa were, if they were coming for him. She said that he seemed to have lost hope that he would get a family. Imagine, at 3 years old feeling like you weren't worthy of a family. That no one was coming for you. My heart shattered. I wanted him, I loved him in ways I never knew possible just from a picture. She said that his caregivers had told him that she would go back to America to find his mom and dad, and in that moment he put his hands together to pray for that to happen. This happened the same day we asked the agency to see his file. After months of praying for this little boy we were making a phone call that would change his life, and ours.  I knew in my heart that this little boy was ours. And I knew I needed to trust God right now, to follow him where he was taking us.  So we switched agencies. And on Nov 20,2014 we officially committed to him and began the process of making him our son.


International Adoption is expensive. That fact alone was enough to make me not want to start the process at all. How would we come up with enough money to pay for an adoption. We are a single income family and we do not have that kind of money just chillin' in the bank. But I continue trusting God to provide a way. Whether that is people donating to our FSP, or Tony working over time, or my side jobs and hobbies adding up to pay a fee, or our fundraisers being successful. Maybe there is a fundraiser we haven't even thought of yet that will carry us to the end. Either way, God will provide a way because this is exactly where he wants us to be. I feel like he will bless us with the patience to continue on the hard days. He will bless us with the funds when we needs them. Everything happens in his perfect timing.

And just because.... here is a photo of us on our last day in country. I feel like I look 10 years older in that photo, jet lag and a different time zone were not kind ;)

Make sure to come back, Ill be posting our final visit with Little Man soon ! <3